Nat'l price council eyes declaring 'extraordinary hike in food prices'

A trade official told a House committee on Wednesday that the National Price Coordinating Council is considering declaring an extraordinary increase in food prices to allow the Secretary of Agriculture to declare a food security emergency.

According to Tina Panganiban-Perez's report on "24 Oras," Director Cherryl Carbonell of the Department of Trade and Industry said the NPCC met on Tuesday and was working on a resolution.

"The National Price Coordinating Council met yesterday and we are looking at the possibility of declaring that there is an extraordinary increase in prices to allow the DA secretary to declare a food security emergency. But we’re still working on the resolution,"  Carbonell said.

Carbonell was one of the resource persons on Wednesday before the House Murang Pagkain Super Committee that tackled the high prices of rice in the market.

House members criticized the impending implementation of a P58-per-kilo maximum suggested retail price on imported premium rice.

“Bakit natin i-benchmark sa imported so mas lalong nagmamahal ang presyo ng domestic price. Ang sinasabi natin, give the domestic farmers an opportunity to earn decently so that they will keep on planting rice,” said Representative Ferjenel Birbon, House chair of the trade and industry committee.

(Why should we benchmark the imported rice? so that the domestic price would be more expensive? What we're trying to say is give the domestic farmers an opportunity to earn decently so that they will keep on planting rice.)

“How can we control the price of rice when the agency that is supposed to guide us is pegging it at a higher price!” Iloilo Representative Janette Garin said.

ACT-Teachers party-list Representative France Castro said sellers, who supposedly have more affordable rice, would take advantage of the P58 maximum suggested retail price and increase their cost.

“Yun pong maximum retail price is a kind of a number, starting number sa dahan-dahan na pagbaba. Halimbawa, yung premium rice is already priced at P58, yung pinakamahal, siyempre po yung mas mababa ang kalidad noon, natural ibababa po yon," Agriculture Undersecretary Asis Perez said.

"Ang napag-usapan namin noon, hahanapin namin yung puhunan tapos we add around P8 to P12 markup based on the imported landed cost po and then yun po yung maximum dapat na makikita natin,” he added.

(The maximum retail price is a starting number. For example, the premium rice is at P58, the most costly. Of course, those of lower quality will naturally decrease its cost. We talked before that we will find the investment and then add around P8 to P12 markup based on the imported landed cost and then that is the maximum price we should see.)

Enverga said rice was costly due to the layers of the supply chain.

"Kailangang ma-shorten, mabawasan ang supply chain na ito na added cost," he said.

(We need to shorten the supply chain which is an added cost.) —Celine Serquina/NB, GMA Integrated News